Excerpted from WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Human Events, for decades the lone national conservative newspaper before the Fox era, on Wednesday announced that the grim reaper killing off print publications around the nation has reached its door on Capitol Hill. The Feb. 18 issue currently on the stands will be its last.

But Human Events, Ronald Reagan’s fave, like the Christian Science Monitor, U.S. News and Newsweek before it, will live on via the Internet, where it receives 1 million visitors a month.

“This was a difficult decision, and one we did not make lightly,” said publisher Joe Guerriero. “As everyone knows, the newspaper business is a very tough business. Contrast that with the explosive growth of digital media, which we’ve seen with our own websites, HumanEvents.com and RedState.com.” Guerriero told Secrets that the surprise decision will also mean staff cuts. By the end of Wednesday, it was a blood bath–virtually everybody associated with the small newspaper was gone, including the editor in chief and famed political reporter John Gizzi. Columnists such as Ann Coulter and Patrick J. Buchanan will likely stay part of the website’s bench.

He added that ceasing the newspaper after nearly 70 years is not a sign of waning interest in conservative issues and news. Instead, the decision was simply a matter of dollars and cents. “People get their news for free online,” he said.

Human Events is owned by Eagle Publishing, and Guerriero said that Eagle has “willingly subsidized Human Events for quite some time now, choosing to do so to serve the cause of conservatism. But the realities of the 24-hour news cycle and the brutal economics of a weekly print publication have become insurmountable.”

Its websites rely more on contributors and readers for content, and he expects that to continue.

“While the print publication will no longer exist, we are confident Human Events’ mission to defend and promote conservatism will continue through our popular websites,” he said.